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When the Space Shuttle Enterprise made its final landing at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, it was greeted by a special guest: Leonard Nimoy.

The Star Trek actor and director gave an emotional speech to welcome the spaceship, which bears the same name as the starship that was home to Nimoy's character, Mr. Spock. Saying that seeing Enterprise again was a "reunion" for him, he recounted the story of how the NASA orbiter got its name.

Back in the 1970s, when plans for the Space Shuttle program were progressing toward building prototype ships, the first ship was supposed to be named Constitution. However, fans of the original Star Trek started a letter-writing campaign to President Ford, asking him to change the name to Enterprise.

He did, or rather, he directed NASA to do so. Then, in a gala dedication ceremony on Sept. 17, 1976, which included Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and most of the original cast as guests, Enterprise was officially unveiled at Rockwell's plant in Palmdale, Calif.

Designed as a test vehicle, Enterprise sadly never flew in space. It lacked many key systems (such as main engines) for journeys to space, although the design made it possible to add those later. In 1986, after the Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed, NASA briefly considered refitting Enterprise for spaceflight, but it opted instead to construct Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Now the Enterprise has made its final flight, and Nimoy was once again present — seeming to look at it with deep emotion at one point (you can see that moment in pic No. 4 in the gallery below). While that may not have been in keeping with his Star Trek alter ego, his final words to Enterprise as it prepared for its permanent exhibit at New York's Intrepid museum were more characteristic of Mr. Spock: "Live long and prosper."

8 Out-of-This World Photos of Space Shuttle Enterprise

Here She Is!

Enterprise treats the crowd at John F. Kennedy Airport to a low-and-slow fly-by.

Image Credit: Alex Fitzpatrick

And there she goes...

Enterprise swings around for a landing after her fly-by at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

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